I can’t believe I’ve never reviewed this before!
I re-listened to the version of “Anne of Green Gables” read by Rachel McAdams, because we’re soon to go on a cruise to Canada and visit Prince Edward Island and Halifax. Mostly I wanted to go because I love this series so much!
The story is episodic, which I think some of my favorite stories seem to be, interestingly enough. It’s less about the overall plot, so much as the series makes me feel like I can inhabit their world, in turn-of-the-century Prince Edward Island. It’s so idyllic, such a simpler time, where there are quirky characters who have flaws, but nobody is truly evil. There’s misunderstandings and selfishness and mishaps galore, but also wild flights of fancy, deep and moving relationships, and gorgeous description. I almost feel like Avonlea itself is a character in the story.
Anne is a girl that probably every bookwormish little girl can identify with. She has a big heart, and a big imagination. She’s adventurous, idealistic, and she loves pretty things. She also feels everything deeply. She’s an orphan who, through a twist of fate, gets adopted by Marilla and Matthew Cuthbert (brother and sister), almost in spite of their intentions–she’s just so irresistible. Everyone ends up falling under Anne’s spell, even though (as it’s firmly established for at least the first half of the book), she’s “terribly skinny and homely, and her hair’s as red as carrots!”
My favorite part of all the books is her relationship with Gilbert Blythe. He’s the handsome boy-next-door who inadvertently insults her at the beginning, and she gives him the cold shoulder almost the entire way through the first book, even though he secretly adores her. And she’s not indifferent to him either, though she can’t exactly explain, even to herself, how she truly feels about him.
I read these as a child and have no idea how many times since. Definitely some of my all-time favorites!
My rating: ****
Language: none
Violence: none
Sexual content: none
Political content: none
Leave a Reply